Waterlands

UPDATEDAUTO-REFRESH 5 MIN

Striped bassRetention open

Cape · California

Little Coyote Point

37.57°N · 122.26°W · Cape · San Francisco Bay South of the Bay Bridge

LOADING MAP

Best score today · 8 AM · Striped bass

81/100Great
Now
817 PM PDT
Best window
7-8 PMFlood tide
Tide now
Flooding5.6 ft ▲

Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine

Notify me when Little Coyote Point scores 75+

Checked every morning against the 14-day forecast. Free by push and email.

Sign in to set an alert

24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 7 PM · now

Time7PNOW
Score81Great
Tide5.6 ft ▲Flooding
CurrentFlood0.7 kn · toward SE
Wind6 kn Wgusts 17 · steady
Sea stateLight chop1.3 ft · 6 s
Air temp62°Mild
WeatherMostly cloudy53% cloud
Water67°FObserved

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

San Francisco Groundfish Management Area

IN EFFECT NOW

Striped bass

Retention open
Daily limit
2 per day
Possession
Not published
Size
Minimum 18 in, total length
Season
No closed season on file
Annual quota
Not published
Other
Angling, spearfishing or bow and arrow only. No sinker over 4 pounds, no power-driven gurdy or winch, no snagging. The CDFW San Francisco Bay District page states the same limits for the bay: two fish, 18 inches total length.

From CDFW 2026 California Ocean Sport Fishing Regulations booklet (last updated July 17, 2026), read Sep 13

Other species here

  • Albacore tuna Retention open (25 per day)
  • Barred sand bass Retention open (4 per day (5 kelp bass, barred sand bass and spotted sand bass combined))
  • Cabezon Retention open (10 per day (10 rockfish, cabezon and greenlings combined))
  • California halibut Retention open (2 per day)
  • Chinook salmon Retention open (2 per day (2 salmon combined))
  • Coho salmon Closed (No retention)
  • Kelp bass Retention open (5 per day (5 kelp bass, barred sand bass and spotted sand bass combined))
  • Kelp greenling Retention open (10 per day (10 rockfish, cabezon and greenlings combined))
  • Leopard shark Retention open (3 per day)
  • Lingcod Retention open (2 per day)
  • Mahi-mahi Retention open (10 per day)
  • Pacific bluefin tuna Retention open (2 per day)
  • Pacific halibut Retention open (1 per day)
  • Rockfish Retention open (10 per day (10 rockfish, cabezon and greenlings combined))
  • Sablefish Retention open (10 per day)
  • Surfperch Retention open (20 per day)
  • White seabass Retention open (3 per day)
  • Yellowfin tuna Retention open (10 per day)
  • Yellowtail Retention open (10 per day)

Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed

When Striped bass is best here

Peak season for Striped bass · 5 more weeks at peak

Striped bass season by week of the year. Peak season for Striped bass · 5 more weeks at peak.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • This week

Striped bass in California

Spot profile

Little Coyote Point

Depth
1-3 ftNearest water
Structure
Point · Inner · Semi-exposedPoint · flat bottom
Season
Peak seasonStriped bass

NOAA NCEI DEM, sampled Sep 14 on a 3.4 m grid. Depths are feet below NAVD 88, not chart datum (MLLW), so they can differ from a chart by a few feet. Not for navigation.

About this spot

Fishing Little Coyote Point

Little Coyote Point is a cape in San Francisco Bay South of the Bay Bridge, California. Depth in the nearest water is 1-3 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads point, inner water and semi-exposed.

Waterlands scores 11 species here; the best right now are striped bass, California halibut and rockfish. It is peak season now for striped bass, rockfish, cabezon and surfperch, and shoulder season for California halibut, leopard shark, white seabass and Chinook salmon. Striped bass peak from June through July and from September through October. California halibut peak from May through August. Rockfish peak from May through September.

Tackle & technique

Striped bass
Striped bass feed where moving tide pushes bait past structure: inlets, points, jetties, bridge pilings and rips in the surf, usually in 2 to 40 feet of water. Fish dawn, dusk and night hardest, casting plugs, bucktails and soft plastics or drifting live bunker and eels, and chunk bait on the bottom in current. In midsummer the larger fish drop deeper or feed mostly after dark.
California halibut
California halibut are ambush feeders that lie on sand or mud bottom, mostly in water shallower than 100 feet and often inside bays, harbors and estuaries. Drift or slow-troll a live anchovy or sardine on a sliding sinker rig, or bounce a swimbait along the bottom over flats, channel edges and sandy areas near structure. Keep the bait within a foot or two of the bottom and give a fish time to turn the bait before setting the hook.
Rockfish
Rockfish live on rocky reefs, pinnacles and kelp from the shoreline out past 300 feet, with black and blue rockfish schooling mid-water over shallow reefs and copper, quillback, yelloweye and vermilion sitting tight to deeper bottom. Drift over the structure with a shrimp fly above a lead-head grub or metal jig, or a squid strip, and reel up a few cranks after touching bottom to cut snags. Use a descending device to release any fish brought up from deep water.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

  • Seal Slough

    Gut · 1.7 mi

    80
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 80
    • Surfperch 74
    • California halibut 71

    6 kt WH 9:02 PM · 6.8 ftL 4:26 AM · 0.4 ft

  • Coyote Point

    Cape · 3.4 mi

    79
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 79
    • Rockfish 73
    • Cabezon 70

    6 kt WH 9:02 PM · 6.8 ftL 4:26 AM · 0.4 ft

  • Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 78
    • Rockfish 73
    • Surfperch 73

    6 kt WH 9:02 PM · 6.8 ftL 4:26 AM · 0.4 ft

  • Steinberger Slough

    Gut · 3.3 mi

    76
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 76
    • Surfperch 70
    • California halibut 69

    6 kt WH 9:09 PM · 6.7 ftL 5:10 AM · 0.3 ft

Scores and forecasts are for planning only and can be wrong. Conditions on the water change fast; check the marine forecast before you go. Regulations change during the season, so confirm limits and closures with CDFW before you keep a fish.